Iowa State vs. Prairie View A&M Primer

Who: Iowa State (7-2, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Prairie View A&M (4-3, 0-0 SWAC)

Where: Hilton Coliseum (14,267) – Ames, Iowa

When: Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023 – 12:00 p.m.

Tipping Off: Coming off the largest victory by any Cyclone program in the 113 year history of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, Iowa State will welcome Prairie View A&M to Hilton Coliseum for a Sunday matinee.

Iowa State is 1-0 all-time against Prairie View, having met just once in 2011. The Cyclones defeated the Panthers 84-59 in that meeting where a sophomore Melvin Ejim went for eight points and six rebounds.

Storylines:

Iowa State enters Sunday's contest coming off of back-to-back 19-plus point victories. The Cyclones defeated DePaul to move to 4-0 all-time in the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle before taking down Iowa by 25 in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
- The 25-point margin of victory over Iowa is the largest by any ISU team in the 113-year history of the meeting.
After opening the season with four home games, the Cyclones went 2-2 in four straight outings away from Hilton, earning fourth place at the ESPN Events Invitational before downing DePaul before returning to take down Iowa.
UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert averages a team-high 15.9 points per contest, leading the team in both free throws made (43) and attempted (59).
- Gilbert is second on the team in field goals made (46), 3-point percentage (38.1), assists (35) and steals (19).
- Gilbert earned his first career double-double against VCU on Thanksgiving, dropping 22 points and pulling in 10 boards.
- Gilbert tied his career-high in scoring against Iowa, dropping 25 points – the most by any Cyclone this season in a single game.
  - Gilbert has three 20-plus point outings this year to lead the team.
Tamin Lipsey has made a sophomore leap for ISU, as the kid from Ames is averaging 14.7 points per game. Lipsey leads the team in rebounds, assists, steals and minutes played.
- Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double, joining the likes of Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
- Lipsey set a new personal best on Thanksgiving against VCU, scoring 22 points. He then set a personal best for rebounds against No. 12 Texas A&M with 14.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has had a solid start to his freshman campaign, as the rookie from Pewaukee is averaging 13 points per game.
- Momcilovic has a team-high 23 3-pointers and strokes it at a 45.1% clip.
- He recorded 21 points against Virginia Tech in Florida – a career-high – and is one of four Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
- Through nine games, Momcilovic is tied for the most 3-pointers by a true freshman in the country with 23.
Robert Jones has started the last six games after being thrust into the starting lineup after center Hason Ward went down with an injury.
- Jones leads the team in field goal percentage, as the big man is shooting 75 percent from the floor. He also leads the team in blocks (8) and offensive rebounds (22).
Tre King is one of four Cyclones averaging double-figures, as the senior chips in 10.9 points per contest.
- Against DePaul, King tallied an Iowa State high of 24 points, going 10-15 from the field.
  - Over his last two games, he's averaging 20.5 points per game.
Jackson Paveletzke, Curtis Jones, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
As a head coach, Otz is 147-92 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 48-29 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Iowa State is 32-8 in games at Hilton Coliseum and is 31-7 in non-conference contests under Otzelberger. Otz is undefeated against non-conference opponents at home.
As of Saturday, Dec. 9, the Cyclones are ranked No. 11 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 18 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 9 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
ISU's latest road win – a 99-80 win over DePaul – featured the most points any Cyclone team has scored on the road since 2001.
- The Cyclones dropped 109 points at Missouri in four overtimes.
Iowa State and Prairie View will meet for just the second time on Sunday. The Cyclones won the only previous meeting, 84-59, back in 2011 in Ames.
Both Lipsey and Gilbert have scored in double figures in eight of the nine contests this season.
Iowa State scored over 85 points in the first four games of the season. It's the first time the Cyclones did so in four-straight games since February 2016 and the first time doing so in the first four games of the year since 1987-88.
Iowa State had double digit steals in each of the first four games this season. It's the first time since the 2016-17 season the Cyclones have done so in four-straight games.

Switching Sides:

PVAMU was voted to finish sixth out of 12 in the SWAC by the league's coaches and SIDs. They received one first place vote.
The Panthers have had just one home game this season and are in the midst of an eight-game road trip.
Prairie View is 2-3 in true road contests this year, falling at Seattle, Washington State and Tulane but have won a pair at Abilene Christian and Eastern Kentucky.
The Panthers are playing on 10 days rest, having had the entire week off after an unforgiving November travel schedule.
The Panthers have just two returners from last season - Brian Myles & McKinley Harris.
PVAMU averages 74.9 points per contest and shoots 39.9 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from deep.
Charles Smith IV – a two-time transfer who began his career at SMU – leads the team in points.
- He's third on the team in assists (1.3) and rebounds (5) per game.
  - After two years at SMU, he went to Old Dominion for a pair of seasons and now is at PVAMU as a graduate transfer.
As of Friday morning, Prairie View is ranked No. 109 in the NET, No. 251 in KenPom and No. 245 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
Prairie View A&M head coach Byron Smith is in his ninth season coaching the Panthers and has a 118-134 record.

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Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Hason Ward

Demarion Watson

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics